Blanching almonds is really simple to do, which I discovered recently when I wanted to make some cookies that didn’t have wheat flour.
I had almond MEAL on hand, but the recipe called for blanched almond flour and I know that the meal is rougher due to the skin being part of it… so I wanted to use ‘flour’ made from blanched almonds.
Thankfully I had a small bag of almonds stored in the fridge!
So, here’s what I did to make my blanched almond flour…
- Boil water in a small-to-medium sized pot until a full, rolling boil
- Add the (UN-roasted) almonds and allow to boil for about 2 minutes
- Drain the almonds and allow to cool or you can do what I did, which was to run cold water over the almonds while they were in the strainer
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click to enlarge The skin should now be nice and soft, semi-loose and easy to just pop or peel off
- Once all skins are removed, DO NOT DISCARD THE SKINS! More on what to do with those in a bit
- Take the almonds and put them into a dry pan on low-medium heat and lightly roast them until dry. Be sure to toss them around so that they don’t become discolored from scorching.
- Once completely dry, allow to cool completely
- Once they are cool, grind them using either a food processor, blender or coffee/nut grinder – be sure the canister of whatever you choose to use is completely dry or else you will end up with nut butter!Also, be sure not to blend too long. Blend for a bit, stop and check the consistency and if need be, grind again until a slightly coarse flour is formed… again, being careful not to go too long as to release the oils and turn it into almond butter.
- Sift through the flour for large pieces of almonds that didn’t grind all the way (as pictured) and just remove them and set aside to use as part of step 10.
- Oh and about those skins… there are nutrients and antioxidants in the skin of almonds, so why waste them? Instead, put them on a baking sheet or pan and dry them out in the oven on a low setting (I used 325 degrees) until they are dry and kinda crunchy. Then, grind them to powder and store away for use in other recipes or in smoothies!
Storage & Usage For Your Blanched Almond Flour
I recommend storing your almond flour (and fresh nuts in general) in an airtight container in the refrigerator to keep them from going rancid too quickly.
You can use this flour for various baked goods, almond milk that may not need straining since there is no skin to make it grainy, and perhaps even a coating for foods such as chicken – don’t quote me on that as I haven’t tried it yet! lol
But I DID manage to make some delicious, soft oatmeal cookies using my blanched almond flour, along with oat flour and the other usual cookie ingredients, sans the wheat flour! They turned out great! (recipe forthcoming)
So, now you know how to make your own blanched almond flour to use in recipes that call for it or even ones that do not and you just want a suitable replacement for wheat flour.
